Coventry Blaze in good shape ahead of new campaign insists head coach Danny Stewart

BLAZE HEAD coach Danny Stewart has said his side are in good shape as they prepare for their first competitive game of the season against Nottingham this Sunday (5.15pm) at the Skydome.

Stewart’s positive talk comes after the Blaze won two of their three opening pre-season games, defeating Nottingham, Dutch side Tilburg and narrowly losing out to Cardiff on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Blaze came from 5-2 down to win 6-5 in dramatic style on Wednesday (August 24) night before defeating Tilburg 3-2 on Sunday.

Rivals Cardiff got in the early word though as a late goal with just 11 seconds remaining earned the Welsh side a 3-2 victory.

Following Coventry’s loss to Cardiff, head coach Danny Stewart said: “I’m happy with the way we’ve played to start the season – we had a couple of bad line changes that cost the team bad but overall I’m pleased.

“There’s been more positives than negatives, the most important thing is that we make improvements and keep doing that every week.

“We had a lot of success when getting pucks deep into the opposition zone – we worked all teams hard.

“We have players who look fresh despite playing back-to-back nights, that’s a positive sign this early in the season.”

Mark Venus remains defiant as Sky Blues drop back into League One relegation zone after MK Dons defeat

The Coventry Observer is one of a group of local weekly newspapers spanning Worcestershire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands published by Bullivant Media - each newspaper providing all the latest local news, sport and advertising, in print and 247 on line.